In 1926 Brother Nee went to Shanghai to begin the church life there. Between 1922 and 1927, Brother Nee was invited to minister in many places in Christianity, but after the church in Shanghai was raised up and became strong, he received only a few invitations. From 1927 until Brother Nee went into glory, he was invited only once by the denominations, and that was to a Southern Baptist seminary in my hometown. That was when we first met, and he stayed in my home. In 1938 and 1939 he was invited to England and Scandinavia by some Christians there. That invitation was in a different category.
During the years 1925 through 1927, Brother Nee read some of the writings of the British Brethren, the closed Brethren. As we have pointed out, the Brethren were raised up by the Lord around 1825 to 1828, but within about fifteen years, they were divided into three big divisions. One group was with Darby, which was considered as the exclusive Brethren, the closed Brethren. Another group under the leadership of George Muller was considered as the open Brethren, or Plymouth Brethren. The strictest group was under the leadership of Benjamin Newton, who disagreed with Darby concerning the rapture of the saints. Brother Nee read many of the writings of John Nelson Darby. These writings were marvelous, and he received much help from them. Due to the help Brother Nee received, the way we conducted our meetings in the early days of the church life was very close to the Brethren way. Some even called us the Chinese version of the British Brethren.
Brother Nee picked up all the good points from different kinds of Christian practices and put them together in the church life. The Brethren, especially in England, found out that there was a group of Christians who had been raised up by the Lord in a wonderful way, so they started to correspond with Brother Nee. Then they proposed that they would send some to visit us. Brother Nee agreed to receive them, but he told them not to bring in their background. They promised they would not do this, so they came to Shanghai in 1931. This group of closed Brethren was considered to be the best among the Brethren at that time. A brother by the name of James Taylor was their teacher. Elden Hall, which was the first hall of the church in Los Angeles, was originally their hall. We bought Elden Hall from James Taylor's son in 1965. Among the ones that came to Shanghai were Charles Barlow and W.J. House. These two were the speakers among them. Instead of coming to us as simple believers according to their agreement, they brought the so-called Brethren practice with them. This caused much trouble, and this was a hard situation for Brother Nee to handle.
They invited Brother Nee to visit them, and he did in 1933. He traveled through France and stayed in England for some time. A brother in England brought him to the United States and to Vancouver, Canada. James Taylor wrote many letters, and there is a record of his correspondence with Brother Nee during this time. In that same year Brother Nee returned to China from Europe. During that time I was fully brought into the work in Shanghai with him. He personally told me everything concerning his visit abroad. The Brethren promised him that if he would take their way, they would buy him some land to build a big hall in Shanghai. They also promised him other things. He said "no" to all their proposals.